Tag: Gatineau Olympiques

Ferris went for a walk. How was your Tuesday? . . . Ball hockey gold for three WHLers . . . SJHL commish gets multi-year deal

Ferris1070523
A smiling Ferris Backmeyer continues to recover from a kidney transplant at a Toronto hospital. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Ferris went for a walk on Tuesday. Yes, she did!

Ferris Backmeyer, the six-year-old from Kamloops who underwent a kidney transplant last week, continues her recovery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

As her mother, Lindsey, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday: “Post op day 5 . . . she’s actually slaying all of this. Being sooo incredibly brave.”

That doesn’t mean things have been easy to this point, but everything seems to be pointing in the right direction.

“It’s not been easy at all,” Lindsey wrote, “but it also hasn’t been the hardest thing we’ve ever done. Not so far anyways.”

FerrisWalk2070523
Ferris climbed out of bed and enjoyed a stroll down a hospital hallway on Tuesday. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

If you’ve been following along, you know that there were some issues over the weekend. An ultrasound detected a bladder leak. According to Lindsey, that is “a somewhat common complication post-transplant . . . likely a clog in the catheter created back pressure and the leak happened. Catheters in post-op tiny humans are super tricky to manage. The tubing kinks so easily. Clots off so easily. She has a large amount of urine still leaking out of her drain.”

The really good news is that through it all the new kidney is motoring right along. Her creatine readings are good and Lindsey said that Ferris is having “solid labs” and “progressing really nicely otherwise!”

They freed her hands from IV hookups “so she is way less frustrated and can play. In fact, she played until 4:30 a.m. last night!! . . . She made it out for her first walk yesterday and made it look easy.”

Ferris also is eating well enough that Lindsey reported “they’ve stopped all daytime feeds . . . working towards getting all the extra fluid off without upsetting her kidney. She’s 2kg heavier than she was on surgery day and there’s nooooo way it was a 2kg kidney!!”

Adding weight is a really big deal with Ferris because that has been an issue for a lot of her young life and has impeded her route to a transplant in the past.

All-in-all, a tired Lindsey wrote, she “really couldn’t be happier with how things have gone. I feel like looking back we won’t even remember the hard times that much because the payoff is going to be soooo big!

“I’m certain if we make it home to Kamloops with this kidney, people are gonna be floored when they see her! She will be a totally different kid in the best ways possible!!”

A city awaits . . .

Polka

Craig West and the Tri-City Americans announced in April that he was stepping aside as their play-by-play voice. West, 68 this month, says he hasn’t retired, but that he simply is moving along down life’s highway. . . . West, who started in the WHL by calling Spokane Chiefs’ game, ended up doing 2,584 games. . . . Jeff Morrow, the former sports editor of the Tri-City Herald, spent some time with West and also touched base with a few hockey people and friends. It all resulted in a terrific look at West and his career . . . to this point. And that piece is right here.

F Conner Roulette of the Spokane Chiefs was named the tournament MVP after helping Team Canada to a gold medal at the International Street and Ball Hockey Foundation’s U20 Ball Hockey World Championship in Liberec, Czechia. . . . Roulette, Team Canada’s captain, had three goals as Canada beat Slovakia, 10-3, in the final. . . . Canada’s roster also included F Dawson Pasternak of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who had three goals and three assists in the final, and F Evan Friesen of the Wenatchee Wild.

Birds

James Patrick, who was the head coach of the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice for the past six seasons, thinks he’ll be taking a season away, with the franchise having relocated to Wenatchee, Wash., where it will play as the Wild. . . . Patrick, whose contract expired with the end of the 2022-23 season, told Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press that he had planned to coach at least one more season in Winnipeg. Sawatzky wrote that Patrick “had heard speculation about the possibility of a franchise move but only found out about the sale following an announcement by the league.” In other words, the Ice’s owners didn’t inform him of the move. Hmmm. . . . Sawatzky’s story is right here.

THE COACHING GAME:

Josh Dixon, an associate coach with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars for the past two seasons, has left the WHL team to take over as head coach of the U of Guelph Gryphons. . . . In Guelph, Dixon takes over from Shawn Camp, who ran the program for 16 seasons. . . . Camp retired following the 2022-23 season. . . .

Benoit Desrosiers has agreed to a three-year contract as the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. Desrosiers, 34, has worked as an assistant coach with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, Sherbrooke Phoenix and Quebec Remparts in past seasons. He spent 2022-23 as an assistant coach with the Memorial Cup-champion Remparts. . . . In Gatineau, he replaces Louis Robitaille, who spent three years in the position. . . .

The AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats have hired Brad Rihela as their head coach. He had been with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, as assistant GM and associate head coach, for the previous five seasons. . . . In Lloydminster, Rihela takes over from Nigel Dube, who remains with the organization as general manager. Dube had been the head coach since Nov. 12, 2018. . . . The Bobcats also announced that Jeff Woywitka has been named associate head coach and skill development coach. He had joined the team after last season’s Christmas break. . . .

The BCHL’s Coquitlam Express has hired Brett Sonne as an assistant coach. Sonne, from Maple Ridge, B.C., played four seasons (2005-09) with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. For the past two seasons he has been an assistant coach with the junior B Ridge Meadows Flames of the Pacific Junior Hockey League. . . . Sonne’s brother, Brennan, is the head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. . . .

The AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints are in the market for a head coach after six seasons with Bram Stephen at the helm. The Saints announced Stephen’s departure on Wednesday, although no reason was provided. . . . “I will look fondly on my time in Spruce Grove as I look forward to the next opportunities in my career,” Stephen said in a news release. . . . He guided the Saints to the AJHL championship in 2018.

Think

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Kyle McIntyre has signed a multi-year deal to continue as commissioner of the SJHL. He is heading into his second season leading the 12-team league. . . . From a news release: In 2022-23, “the SJHL improved overall broadcast standards for both the fans and saw significant improvements in followers on all the league’s social media channels. Attendance levels over the season averaged 674 fans per game with over 222,498 fans for the season. In playoffs the average attendance was 1,137 per game and the league saw over 38,641 fans attend playoffs games. The league also saw a record number of NCAA and USport player commitments.” . . .

D Blake Heward, who cleared WHL 20-year-old waivers, has signed on with the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins. Heward had four goals and 21 assists in 103 regular-season WHL games, split between the Edmonton Oil Kings and Calgary Hitmen. . . .

F Kyle Bochek, who played last season with the Vancouver Giants, has cleared WHL waivers and is a free agent. Bochek, 20, had one goal and three assists in 48 games with the Giants last season. In 2021-22, he had three assists in 30 games. . . . 

F Jared Davidson, who played the past five seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds, has signed a one-year contract with the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. Davidson, who will turn 21 on Friday, had 38 goals and 44 assists in 60 games with the WHL-champion Thunderbirds last season. He was a fifth-round selection by the Canadiens in the NHL’s 2022 draft.

Merge

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Cat

Stankoven saluted by Hockey Gives Blood . . . Eight QMJHL teams need head coaches . . . Royals, Chiefs make deal

Logan Stankoven had quite a surprise awaiting shortly after he arrived home in Kamloops from a vacation in Italy.

On Tuesday night, before close to 100 people, he was saluted by Hockey Gives Blood, which presented him with the Dayna Brons Honorary Award “for his selfless contributions in support of patients who rely on Canadian Blood Services.”

Brons was the athletic therapist for the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. She was on the team bus when it was involved in that horrific accident on April ??, 2018, and she died five days later. She had been a committed blood donor.

Stankoven, the captain of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, is a Hockey Gives Blood player ambassador. He is the fifth player ambassador to receive this award. He has been a player ambassador since the age of 17 and is a blood donor. He also has joined Canadian Blood Services’ stem cell registry and has played host to community blood drives.

He also played host to the largest fundraising initiative since the inception of Hockey Gives Blood. The Logan Stankoven Charity Night helped raise

more than $41,000, with all proceeds helping fund the vital efforts of Canada’s Life line — from recruitment of more blood, plasma, stem cell and organ and tissue donors to world-class research.

As the winner of this award, Stankoven also is eligible to receive a $5,000 educational bursary.

Previous recipients of this award are Jacob Ingham (Kitchener Rangers), Matthew Welsh (Charlottetown Islanders, Braden Hache (Kingston Frontenacs) and Logan Nijhoff (Regina Pats).

There are 18 teams in the QMJHL. As of Tuesday evening, eight of them were qmjhlnewwithout a head coach. . . . The latest to fall into that category are the Halifax Mooseheads and Sherbrooke Phoenix. . . . Sylvain Favreau, the Mooseheads’ head coach, resigned Monday, citing personal reasons. He had been with Halifax through six seasons, the past two as head coach. Halifax lost the QMJHL final to the Quebec Remparts last month. . . . The Phoenix lost Stéphane Julien, their general manager and head coach, to an as yet unnamed AHL team. He had been with the Phoenix for the past 12 seasons, the last three as GM/head coach. . . . The Mooseheads and Phoenix join the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, Cape Breton Eagles, Drummondville Voltigeurs, Gatineau Olympiques, Quebec Remparts and Rimouski Oceanic as teams now on the hunt for a head coach.

Dogpoop

If you’ve been watching MLB games of late, you will have seen or heard references to a new pitch that seems to have taken hold. Actually, it’s an old pitch. As Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle notes:

Nice to see the so-called ‘sweeper’ pitch absorb more ridicule from ex-players who realize it’s an analytics-created fallacy. “It’s not a ‘sweeper,’ that’s a slider,” Dave Stewart said on the A’s postgame show Thursday. “I sweep my floors with that thing, I don’t bring it into a baseball game. I can’t see any pitcher, in his bullpen between starts, working on throwing a flat breaking ball. When that pitch doesn’t have some depth to it, it gets hit pretty good. It’s a mistake that’s made, and that thing just stays up in the strike zone.”

More from Jenkins on the, uhh, ‘sweeper’:

Mike Krukow was onto the ruse early, calling it a “highschool Harry curve,” and Giants broadcast partner Duane Kuiper is equally unimpressed. Contacted via text, Kuiper responded, “I’ve never said ‘sweeper’ in my life.”

Krukow and Kuiper, both former major leaguers, work together on the San Francisco Giants’ TV crew, and they are terrific.

Victor Wembanyama was the No. 1 selection in Thursday’s NBA draft, taken by the San Antonio Spurs who will sign him to a four-year contract that will be worth somewhere around US$54.4 million. . . . QB Bryce Young, who was taken by the Carolina Panthers with the first pick of the NFL’s 2023 draft, will end up with a $38-million deal. . . . Allan Walsh, a prominent player agent, tweeted this on Friday: “The NHL’s No. 1 overall pick will have his three-year entry-level contract capped at a signing bonus of $95,000 per year, salary capped at $855,000 per year and difficult to attain performance bonuses capped at $1,000,000 per year (all minus 6 per cent escrow).” . . . Hey, folks, now you know why the NHL owners are so in love with Gary Bettman, their commissioner.

Home

THE COACHING GAME:

Ryan Craig is the new head coach of the Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. Craig 42, was an assistant coach with the Golden Knights since the team’s first season (2017-18). . . . He played five seasons (1998-2003) with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings while Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon was the owner and GM. . . . Craig replaces Manny Viveiros, whose contract wasn’t renewed after three seasons. . . .

Ryan Huska and Dan Lambert are back together, this time on the coaching staff of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Huska is the Flames’ new head coach. Lambert was named an assistant coach on Friday, after having been dropped by the Nashville Predators. He had been with the Predators for four seasons. . . . Lambert worked as an assistant under Huska for three seasons (2011-14) with the Kelowna Rockets. Lambert took over as head coach after Huska joined the Flames organization as the head coach of their AHL affiliate, then the Adirondack Flames.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Victoria Royals have acquired F Grady Lane, 20, from the Spokane Chiefs, in return for an eighth-round selection in the WHL’s 2025 draft. Lane had six goals and six assists in 66 games with the Chiefs last season. In four seasons there, he totalled eight goals and 15 assists in 129 games. . . . At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, Lane adds some grit to the Royals’ lineup. Earlier, the Royals acquired Justin Lies, another gritty 20-year-old, from the Saskatoon Blades. . . .

Two skaters who played out their 20-year-old seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings are off to Italy. F Calder Anderson and F Nolan Ritchie, both of whom are from Brandon, have signed with HC Merano of the Alps Hockey League. . . . Anderson played 98 games over three seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors before putting up 50 points, 16 of them goals, in 65 games with the Wheat Kings last season. . . . Ritchie had 70 points, 27 of them goals, in 67 games in 2022-23, after putting up 76 points, including 33 goals, in 66 games in 2021-22. After the Wheat Kings’ 2022-23 season ended, Ritchie got into five regular-season and six playoff games with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies, totalling two goals and three assists. . . . HC Merano’s head coach is Tom Coolen, who is prepping for his first season there. He is a veteran of the Canadian university game, having coached at Acadia U and the U of New Brunswick. He also spent two seasons with the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats before heading to Europe in 2001. . . .

The Vancouver Giants are looking for an equipment manager after Brodie St. Jacques left to join the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. . . . He had been with the Giants for two seasons. . . .

Vukie Mpofu, who played one full season (2013-14) with the Red Deer Rebels, has been hired by the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins as director of hockey operations and legal affairs. Among his responsibilities will be contract negotiations and salary cap issues. . . . He had been with the Los Angeles Kings for the past two seasons. . . .

Serge Beausoleil is the new general manager of the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. Beausoleil, 56, signed a five-year contract. He had been with the Rimouski Oceanic for 12 seasons (2011-23) — three as head coach and the past nine as GM/head coach.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Tuna

Dreger: NHL GMs want to talk about 19s in the AHL . . . Friedman: CHL to ban Belarusians, Russians from draft . . . Bananas skate to WHL victory

A couple of items that involve the WHL slipped through the cracks here this week, so allow me to touch on them now . . .

The NHL’s general managers met in Manalapan, Fla., early in the week.

Darren Dreger of TSN reported that there was some conversation about what CHLonce was known as the pro-junior agreement — the deal between the NHL and CHL that involves the 60 major junior teams. That contract expired a couple of years ago, and simply has been rolled over because of the pandemic. But it seems that the parties are getting closer to sitting down and hashing it out.

Dreger also reported: “The general managers coming out of Tuesday’s meetings want to talk more about 19-year-olds playing in the American Hockey League and it feels like every March, when we’re healthy enough to be in a face-to-face environment, that the topic comes up. I know Kelly McCrimmon of the Vegas Golden Knights gave a very passionate account — as the former owner of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings — to tell the general managers (there are 11 new guys in there) how devastating it would be to the CHL if they introduce 19-year-olds at the AHL level.”

The NHL and major junior operators love to talk about how the CHL teams are in the business of developing players. And that is true. But it is time for both parties to acknowledge that these teams, first and foremost, are in the entertainment business. If they don’t produce an entertaining product, they might not be in business.

There has long been chatter about the NHL teams wanting the OK to put 19-year-olds in the AHL. One school of thought has it that a 19-year-old who has been a first-round selection in the NHL draft should be able to be placed in the AHL.

As things stand now, an NHL team has two options with a 19-year-old whose rights it owns — keep him in the NHL or offer him to his major junior team.

These 19-year-olds are the best players in major junior hockey, the players people pay to watch. To take them away from CHL teams would be a real slap in the face to those teams and their fans.

——

Meanwhile, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet posted his weekly 32 Thoughts and it included this: “It’s not announced yet, but several CHL teams are indicating a ban will be enforced against selecting Russians and Belorusians in the upcoming import draft. Existing prospects will be grandfathered, allowed to return next (season).”

Here’s a look at Russian (3) and Belarusian (7) players on WHL rosters (age shown is as of start of this season):

Brandon — F Zakhar Polshakov, 18, Minsk, Belarus.

Calgary — F Anton Astashevich, 17, Minsk, Belarus; F Maxim Muranov, 17, Moscow, Russia.

Lethbridge — F Yegor Klavdiev, 18, Minsk, Belarus.

Medicine Hat — D Gleb Ivanov, 18, Moscow, Russia.

Prince Albert — G Tikhon Chaika, 18, Minsk, Belarus; F Vladislav Shilo, 18, Minsk, Belarus.

Saskatoon — F Egor Sidorov, 17, Vitebsk, Belarus.

Spokane — D Timafey Kovgoreniya, 18, Minsk, Belarus.

Swift Current — F Alexei Shanaurin, 17, Snezhinsk, Russia.

Sweater

FRIDAY IN THE WHL:

Eastern Conference:

F Matthew Savoie scored twice and added an assist, while G Daniel Hauser WinnipegIceearned the shutout as the visiting Winnipeg Ice dumped the Regina Pats, 7-0, for their 13th straight victory. . . . Savoie now has 32 goals and 52 assists in 60 games. . . . The Ice also got a goal, his 23rd, and three assists from F Zach Benson, with F Connor McClennon scoring his 40th goal of the season. . . . Hauser stopped 17 shots to put up his WHL-leading eight shutout of the season. He is 30-2-1, 1.97, .915 this season. . . . Winnipeg (49-9-5) is 15-0-2 in its last 17 games and leads the conference by eight points over the Edmonton Oil Kings, who have six games remaining. . . . Regina (24-32-5) is five points away from a playoff spot with seven games left. . . .

Bananas

In Saskatoon, F Egor Sidorov scored twice to lead the Blades to a 4-1 victory Saskatoonover the Moose Jaw Warriors in what may well have been a first-round playoff preview. . . . Sidorov, who has 21 goals, broke a 1-1 tie at 8:04 of the third period and added insurance at 14:36. . . . G Nolan Maier recorded the victory with 18 saves. That was the 119th victory of his career, one shy of the WHL record. . . . The Blades (35-24-4) are fifth, one point behind the Warriors (35-23-5). Each team has five games remaining. . . . The Blades rebranded themselves as the Saskatoon Bananas, complete with new sweaters, for this one. For more on that, check out the Blades’ website. . . . 

The Brandon Wheat Kings scored two empty-netters as they beat the Raiders, Brandon4-2, in Prince Albert. . . . F Nate Danielson got his 20th goal into an empty net and gave Brandon a 3-1 lead at 18:12 of the third period. . . . F Sloan Stanick scored his second of the game and 21st of the season at 19:03 to get the home team to within a goal. . . . Brandon F Chad Nychuk (19) iced it with another empty-net goal at 19:32. . . . F Nolan Ritchie scored his 30th goal of the season in the first period. . . . G Ethan Kruger stopped 35 shots for Brandon, which clinched a playoff spot. . . . The Wheat Kings (31-25-5) are sixth, seven points behind Saskatoon and eight ahead of Swift Current, which has only three games remaining. . . . Prince Albert (25-33-5) is three points from a playoff spot. . . .

In Swift Current, the Calgary Hitmen scored the game’s last three goals as they Calgarybeat the Broncos, 5-2. . . . F Sean Tschigerl (22) gave the Hitmen a 3-2 lead, at 15:38 of the second period, with his second of the game. He also had an assist. . . . F Cael Zimmerman, who has 14, scored Calgary’s last two goals. . . . The Hitmen (24-31-8) are ninth, three points behind the Broncos (26-32-7), who trail Lethbridge by a point. . . .

The Lethbridge Hurricanes erased a 2-0 deficit with five straight goals en route Lethbridgeto a 6-3 victory over the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . F Alex Thacker scored twice for Lethbridge, giving him 12. He got the Hurricanes even at 9:08 of the second period and scored the eventual winner, on a PP, at 15:51. . . . Lethbridge got three assists from F Yegor Klavdiev. . . . The Hurricanes (28-30-4) are seventh, one point ahead of Swift Current. . . . The Tigers (11-47-4) have lost six in a row. . . .

Western Conference:

F Andrew Cristall, F Pavel Novak and F Scott Cousins each had three points as Kelownathe host Kelowna Rockets dumped the Prince George Cougars, 9-2. . . . The Cougars scored the game’s first goal — D Jonas Brøndberg got his first of the season at 1:31 of the first period — but the Rockets took a 4-1 lead into the second period. . . . Cristall had two goals, giving him 23, and an assist, with Novak scoring his 26th goal and adding two assist, and Cousins getting No. 3 and two assists. . . . Kelowna was 3-for-4 on the PP. . . . The Rockets (36-19-6) appear headed to a fifth-place finish. . . . The Cougars (22-37-3) are eighth, two points ahead of Spokane and three behind Victoria. . . .

In Kamloops, the Spokane Chiefs took a 5-1 lead into the third period and hung Spokaneon for a 6-5 victory over the Blazers. . . . F Blake Swetlikoff (11) gave the visitors a 5-1 lead, on a PP, at 19:47 of the second period. . . . Kamloops outscored Spokane 4-1 in the third period, getting goals from D Logan Bairos (4), at 11:16, and F Daylan Kuefler (37), on a PP, at 13:10, to get within a goal. . . . F Nick McCarry, who started the season with Kamloops, had a goal, his 18th, and two assists for Spokane. He had 28 points in 34 games with the Blazers; he has 28 points in 30 games with Spokane. . . . Spokane was 3-for-5 on the PP. . . . The Blazers got a goal, his 41st, and two assists from F Logan Stankoven. . . . Kamloops, which is carrying three goaltenders, didn’t dress starter Dylan Garand. Dylan Ernst went the distance, with Jesse Sanche on the bench. . . . Mike Boyle, the radio voice of the Chiefs, called his 1,500th WHL game and you can bet it was one he’ll remember. . . . The Blazers (45-16-2) are second, three points behind Everett. . . . Spokane (20-37-5) is ninth, two points behind Prince George. . . .

F Cross Hanas ended a three-goal comeback in OT as the Portland Winterhawks Portlandbeat the Silvertips, 5-4, in Everett. . . . The Silvertips took a 4-2 lead on third-period goals from F Jackson Berezowski (44), at 12:58 and D Aidan Sutter (4), at 16:08. . . . F Marcus Nguyen (19) pulled Portland to within one at 16:29 and D Clay Hanus (18) tied it at 19:46. . . . Hanas, who also had two assists, won it with his 24th goal at 1:03 of extra time. . . . The announced attendance was 6,833, Everett’s third-largest crowd this season. . . . The Winterhawks (42-16-5), with five games left, are third, three points behind Kamloops and six in arrears of Everett (43-10-9). . . .

In Kent, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds opened up a 5-0 lead en route to a 6-4 Seattlevictory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . F Henrik Rybinski’s 19th goal gave Seattle a 5-0 lead just nine seconds into the second period. . . . The Americans scored the next four goals, getting started at 1:50 when F Jordan Gavin scored his first WHL goal in his sixth game. . . . Tri-City got to within a goal at 18:41 on D Marc Lajoie’s 11th goal, via the PP, but Seattle F Lukas Svejkovsky (32) put it away at 19:58 with his second of the game, this one into an empty net. . . . F Jared Davidson scored twice for the winners, giving him 35. . . . Seattle (40-17-6) is three points behind Portland. . . . Tri-City (18-40-5) is six points out of a playoff spot with five games remaining.

Mat

JUNIOR JOTTINGS: F Matthew Wood, a freshman with the Victoria Grizzlies, won the BCHL scoring title this season by putting up 85 points, including 45 goals, in 46 games. Wood, who turned 17 on Feb. 6, is from Lethbridge. He was selected by the Regina Pats in the second round of the WHL’s 2020 draft. However, he has committed to join the U of Connecticut Huskies in Hartford for 2023-24. . . . G Eve Gascon stopped 23 shots to earn the victory as the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques beat the visiting Drummondville Voltigeurs, 7-3, on Friday night. This was the first time a woman had posted a goaltending victory in the QMJHL since Charline Labonte did it with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 2000. . . . It seems there might be at least three bids being prepared with aspirations to play host to the 2023 World Junior Championship. The NHL’s Ottawa Senators are partnering with Quebecor, which owns the arena in Quebec City, and the Quebec government on one bid. Things are moving in Regina and Saskatoon with another bid being prepared from there; city councils in both cities already have approved some funding. Meanwhile, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reported that “the belief is the Halifax Mooseheads and the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League are working on a bid with officials from their respective cities to host the tourney.”

Three former WHL players — F Jared Aulin, F Jayce Hawryluk and D Brennan Menell — have signed with 3ICE, a 3-on-3 pro hockey league that is scheduled to begin play in Las Vegas on June 18. . . . Each of the league’s six teams will comprise seven players, including one goaltender. All six teams will be in action on nights when the tour stops in Las Vegas, Denver, Grand Rapids, Mich., Hershey, London, Ont., Pittsburgh, Quebec City and Nashville. The 3ICE championship is to be decided in Las Vegas on Aug. 20. . . . Aulin, 40, played with the Kamloops Blazers (1998-2002), while Hawryluk, 26, was with the Brandon Wheat Kings (2012-16), and Menell, 24, skated with the Vancouver Giants and Lethbridge Hurricanes (2014-17). Hawryluk and Menell still are active; Aulin last played in 2019-20 with the Elite Ice Hockey League’s Manchester Storm and actually announced his retirement on July 26, 2021.

Ink

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Birthday

Hurricanes delete one from staff . . . Blades’ Maier closing in on career mark . . . Oil Kings’ streak now at 13

Earlier this week, I posted a piece here that led with some comments on announced attendance totals at WHL games this season.

Yes, some teams really are struggling at the gate, but there are a number of possible reasons, some of them pandemic related.

Anyway . . . that piece created a lot of interest and a few comments.

So now I’m asking readers to drop me a line and explain why they no longer go to games or why they don’t go to as many games as they once did. Also feel free to comment on what you think the WHL and its teams might do to increase attendance at their games.

You are able to contact me by DM at Twitter (@gdrinnan) or via email at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

Responses will be used for a posting here at some point in the not-too-distant future.

The OHL announced on Thursday that it has “expelled” Terry Christensen, the OHLFlint Firebirds’ president of hockey operations, for conduct that is “prejudicial to the welfare” of the league. An investigation, sparked by an allegation that was made via the OHL’s player communications system, revealed that Christensen had make remarks that violated the league’s Harassment and Abuse/Diversity Policy. . . . “His conduct violated the league’s expectation of the appropriate conduct of a representative of an OHL Team and he has lost the privilege to participate in the League,” the league said in a statement. . . . Christensen had been with the Firebirds since May.

Meanwhile, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet tweeted Thursday morning that “the OHL is launching an independent investigation into the Niagara IceDogs over alleged offensive comments made by people in senior positions on a team group chat.”

Greg Cowan is a sports reporter with the Owen Sound Sun Times:

https://twitter.com/GregCowanST/status/1501969145952407553?s=20&t=mGTe9yMl1lERdkg59YQaXw

The Lethbridge Hurricanes fired assistant coach Jeff Hansen on Friday. Hansen, Lethbridgefrom Calgary, was in his fifth season after spending four seasons as the video coach with the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Lethbridge general manager Peter Anholt, in a news release: “Jeff is a good man and a hard worker, and this wasn’t an easy decision, but we felt it was time to make a change. We weren’t happy with the development of our defence and the accountability of our blueline.” . . . The Hurricanes’ coaching staff now comprises head coach Brent Kisio, Matt Anholt, the assistant GM/assistant coach, and video coach Ryan Aasman. According to the news release, those three will run things “for the remainder of the season.”

FRIDAY IN THE WHL:

In Brandon, the Winnipeg Ice scored three third-period goals and beat the WinnipegIceWheat Kings, 6-3. F Mikey Milne’s 28th goal of the season, at 2:37 of the third period, broke a 3-3 tie. . . . Through a promotion involving Heritage Co-op, fans 18 and older who purchased an adult ticket received a $10 gas card. Announced attendance was 2,880. . . . The same teams meet again tonight in Winnipeg. . . . The Ice (38-9-5) leads the East Division by 12 points over the Moose Jaw Warriors. Winnipeg, with five games in hand, trails the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings by eight points. . . . The Wheat Kings (28-19-5) are a comfortable sixth in the Eastern Conference. . . .

F Braxton Whitehead broke a 3-3 tie at 15:30 of the third period as the host ReginaRegina Pats beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-3. . . . Whitehead has seven goals. . . . Regina F Connor Berard had a goal, his 35th, and an assist as he ran his point streak to 16 games. He has 33 points, including 16 goals, in what is the WHL’s longest active such streak. . . . Lethbridge is 2-3-1 on a seven-game road trip while the Canadian men’s curling championship is in their home arena. The Brier ends on Sunday. . . . Regina (21-27-4) is 11th in the Eastern Conference, but just two points shy of eighth. . . . Lethbridge (23-27-4) is seventh, two points ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders and Calgary Hitmen, who are tied for eighth. . . . From Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post: “Factoring in last season, when Bedard debuted as a 15-year-old, he has 99 points (including 47 goals) in 61 games as a WHLer. Bedard is on the verge of tying the Pats’ record for most WHL goals by a player who has yet to turn 17. Jeff Friesen had 48 goals over his first 74 games. He scored three goals in four games as a 15-year-old call-up with the 1991-92 Pats. The following season, he had 45 goals in 70 games en route to being named the CHL’s rookie of the year.” . . .

F Egor Sidorov’s 16th goal, at 2:40 of OT, give the visiting Saskatoon Blades a 3-Blades2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders before a sellout crowd of 2,600. . . . G Nolan Maier turned aside 49 shots for the Blades, but wasn’t selected as one of the three stars. Gee, do you think the Blades are that unpopular in P.A.? Maier now has 117 regular-season victories, three shy of the WHL career record that, according to quanthockey.com, is shared by Tyson Sexsmith (Vancouver, 2004-09) and Corey Hirsch (Kamloops, 1988-92). . . . Maier now is tied for fourth with Mac Carruth (Portland, 2009-13), two behind Jordan Papirny (Brandon, Swift Current, 2012-17). . . . F Hayden Pakkala scored twice for the Raiders, giving him nine this season. . . . The same teams will meet again tonight, this time in Saskatoon, on Nolan Maier Bobblehead Night. . . . The Blades (32-18-4) are fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Raiders (22-28-4) are tied for eighth. . . .

In Swift Current, F Jalen Luypen scored twice, the second into an empty net, as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Broncos, 3-1. He’s got 25 goals. . . . The Oil Kings have won 13 in a row. They’ll go for 14 tonight back in Swift Current. . . . Edmonton G Sebastian Cossa stopped 25 shots in posting his WHL-leading 29th victory. . . . The Oil Kings (43-11-3) lead the Eastern Conference by eight points over Winnipeg, which has five games in hand. . . . Swift Current (20-29-7) is 10th, one point out of eighth. . . .

F Jagger Firkus broke a 2-2 tie with his 31st goal, at 5:12 of the third period, and the host Moose Jaw Warriors went on to a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Warriors (32-19-5) are fourth in the Eastern Conference, eight points behind the Red Deer Rebels and one ahead of Saskatoon. . . . The Hitmen (20-27-8) are tied for eighth with Prince Albert, two points behind Lethbridge and one ahead of Swift Current. . . .

F Ben King had a goal, his 44th, and four assists as the Red Deer Rebels clinched a playoff spot with a 6-3 victory over the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . King leads the WHL in goals and points (85). He has one more point than linemate Arshdeep Bains, who signed with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks earlier in the day. Bains had a goal and two assists in this one. He leads the WHL with 53 assists. . . . The Rebels were 4-for-5 on the PP; King leads the WHL with 21 PP goals. . . . Red Deer (37-16-3) is third in the Eastern Conference, four points behind Winnipeg, which has four games in hand. . . . Medicine Hat (10-40-4) is in next-season country. . . .

F Tarun Fizer scored his 13th goal and added an assist to help the Victoria VictoriaRoyalsRoyals to a 5-3 victory over the Cougars in Prince George. Fizer, who has three goals and five assists in his past three games, iced this one with an empty-netter. . . . The Cougars, who have lost seven in a row, had been 7-0-0 against the Royals this season. . . . Prince George led 2-0 before the game was seven minutes old, but surrendered the next four goals. . . . Victoria (17-33-6) closed to within one point of Prince George (19-32-3) and the Spokane Chiefs, who are tied for seventh in the Western Conference. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers got two goals from F Logan Stankoven — he’s got 33 — Kamloopsas they beat the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 4-2. . . . Stankoven broke a 1-1 tie at 14:27 of the first period and then added insurance at 1:53 of the third. . . . Kamloops G Dylan Garand stopped 24 shots in his first appearance since suffering a leg injury on Feb. 16. . . . F Luke Toporowski of the Blazers, a 35-goal man, didn’t return after a collision with Kelowna D Tyson Feist in the first period. . . . The same teams are to meet tonight in Kelowna. In fact, they also will play home-and-home each of the next two weekends. . . . The Blazers (40-14-2) lead the B.C. Division by 10 points over the Rockets (34-15-4). . . .

In Kent, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds scored two late third-period goals, Portlandboth with their goaltender on the bench in favour of the extra attacker, but ended up dropping a 3-2 shootout decision to the Portland Winterhawks. . . . D Luca Cagnoni, the 14th shooter, won it with the only goal of the circus. . . . Portland nursed a 2-0 lead from the 11:18-mark of the second period. . . . Seattle F Reid Schaefer (27) scored at 17:58 of the third period and F Jared Davidson (28) tied it at 19:28. . . . Portland got 51 saves through OT from G Taylor Gauthier . . . The Thunderbirds saluted head athletic trainer Phil Varney, one of hockey’s good guys, as he worked his 1,000th game. He is in his 15th season with Seattle. . . . Seattle F Henrik Rybinski missed his fifth straight game with an undisclosed injury. . . . Seattle F Lucas Ciona, who has 32 points, including 17 goals, didn’t finish with apparent arm injury. . . . Portland (38-14-5) is third in the Western Conference, one point out of first. . . . Seattle (34-14-6) trails Portland by seven points. . . .

F Fabian Lysell’s 19th goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie at 18:08 of the third period as the Vancouver Giants beat the Tri-City Americans, 3-2, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . F Jaden Lipinski, who has five goals, scored twice for the Giants, his second forging a 2-2 tie at 17:04 of the second period. . . . F Samuel Huo, who has 24 goals, scored twice for the Americans. . . . Vancouver (21-29-3) is sixth in the Western Conference, 27 points behind Kelowna and four ahead of Spokane and Prince George. . . . Tri-City (15-34-5) is last in the conference, six points out of a playoff spot. . . .

F Niko Huuhtanen scored twice, giving him 30, and added an assist as the host Everett Silvertips dumped the Spokane Chiefs, 6-3. . . . Everett erased a 2-1 deficit with four straight goals. . . . Everett (37-9-8) is tied with Kamloops atop the Western Conference, but the Silvertips hold two games in hand. . . . Spokane (18-32-5) is tied for seventh with Prince George, four points behind Vancouver and one ahead of Victoria.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS: The Vancouver Canucks signed F Arshdeep Bains, 21, to a three-year free-agent deal on Friday. CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) reported that the entry-level contract calls for an NHL salary of US$750,000 for 2022-23 and $775,000 each of the next two seasons. There also is a $50,000 signing bonus payable each season. His minor-league salary would be $70,000. Bains is from Surrey, B.C.; the Canucks’ AHL affiliate is just down the road in Abbotsford. . . .

The QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques added G Ève Gascon to their roster on Thursday. She had been 9-5-0 with the CÉGEP St-Laurent Patriotes in the Quebec Collegiate Hockey League (Division 1). . . . Gascon is to join the Olympiques this morning (Saturday) and could get the start against the visiting Val D’Or Foreurs later in the day. . . . The last woman to play in the QMJHL? G Charline Labonté got into 26 games (4-9-2, 5.22, .841) with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 1999-2000 and two in 2000-01.

Shawn Mezei, a former WHL player, died in Lethbridge on Wednesday. He was 36. Funeral arrangements hadn’t yet been arranged as of Friday night. Mezei was a native of Taber, Alta. A defenceman, he played 116 games over five seasons with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, totalling two goals, 12 assists and 165 penalty minutes.

My wife, Dorothy, who underwent a kidney transplant on Sept. 23, 2013, is taking part in her ninth kidney walk, albeit virtually, on June 5. She has been involved in every walk since she had her transplant. If you would like to sponsor her, you are able to do that right here.

Colonel

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Pearls Before Swine
Pearls Before Swine

Scattershooting on a Sunday night after nature’s paintbrush put some white on the hilltops . . .

Scattershooting2

You likely are aware that if a male hockey player joins a major junior team, he almost always loses his NCAA eligibility. Right?

What about a female player?

The QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques recalled Ève Gascon on Saturday and she qmjhlnewwas the backup goaltender for a pair of weekend games against the visiting Val-d’Or Foreurs. The Olympiques brought Gascon, 18, in from the Saint-Laurent Patriotes of the Quebec Collegiate Hockey League.

Gascon attended the Olympiques’ training camp prior to the start of this season and got into two games, going 2-0-0, 1.78, .934.

OK, now comes the NCAA part of the story . . .

Gascon has verbally committed to attend the U of Minnesota-Duluth and play for the Bulldogs in 2023-24. And it turns out that NCAA rules are different for women than for men, and women don’t lose their eligibility for playing major junior hockey.

Here’s Matt Wellens of the Duluth News Tribune from a story he wrote in August:

“The NCAA has separate rules for men’s and women’s hockey as it pertains to trying out and playing for professional teams — the NCAA classifies major junior leagues in Canada as professional.

“While men’s hockey players have strict rules pertaining to tryouts and playing with professionals . . . women’s hockey recruits may try out and play for a professional team prior to full-time enrolment, granted they do not receive ‘more than actual and necessary expenses,’ according to the NCAA Division 1 manual (Page 69, 12.2.2.2.1 and 12.2.3.2.1).”

——

BTW, the only females to have played in the QMJHL are Manon Rhéaume and Charline Labonté. Rhéaume played in one game for the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs in 1991-92. Labonté played in 26 games for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 1999-2000 and two more in 2000-01.

Old friend Bob Duff of detroithockeynow.com reported Sunday that Rhéaume will be part of the TV team that will be doing Detroit Red Wings games on Bally Sports Detroit.

According to Duff, who once covered the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades for the StarPhoenix, she “is living in the Detroit area. Rhéaume is working as the Girls Program Coordinator for the Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club. As well, she is serving as the head coach of the 12U girls team in Detroit.”

She will make her Detroit TV debut on Wednesday when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Red Wings.

Crew

Headline at TheOnion.com: Urban Meyer still adjusting to speed of NFL cover-ups.

It’s safe to say that MLB hitters as a group had an abysmal 2021 regular season. . . . The Associated Press reported: “The major league batting average dropped to .244 this season, its lowest since the year of the pitcher in 1968, though offense picked up markedly following baseball’s midseason crackdown on grip-enhancing substances for pitchers.” . . . The complete statistical story is right here.

If you happen to have an autographed picture of Shoeless Joe Jackson in your collection, you should know that one sold recently for US$1.47 million at Christie’s and Hunt Auctions in New York. That one, from 1911, is believed to be the only one around.

Nobody

There were 11 WHL games over the past two days — three on Sunday and eight WHLon Saturday — but there aren’t any scheduled today (Monday), which is Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. . . . Here’s a look at Sunday’s games . . .

In Calgary, F Riley Fiddler-Schultz had three assists to lead the Hitmen to a 4-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Calgary (1-2-0) scored the game’s first three goals and later added an empty-netter. . . . The Broncos (2-3-0) got 37 stops from G Reid Dyck, a 17-year-old from Winkler, Man., as they lost their third straight game. . . .

In Regina, the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Pats, 4-2, in a game in which the last three goals were scored in the final 1:36 with two of them into an empty net. . . . D Logen Hammett gave Brandon a 2-1 lead on a PP at 7:56 of the third period. . . . Brandon scored two empty-netters before the Pats got their second goal at 19:50. . . . D Chad Nychuk had two goals and an assist. . . . The Wheat Kings (2-3-0) got 39 stops from G Carson Bjarnason, a 16-year-old freshman from Carberry, Man., who earned his first WHL victory in his first start and fourth appearance. . . . According to the WHL’s online scoresheet, the Wheat Kings didn’t dress a backup goaltender. Ethan Kruger left a Saturday game with an apparent leg injury. . . . The Pats (2-3-0) have lost three in a row. . . .

In Portland, G Dante Giannuzzi stopped 29 shots to lead the Winterhawks (2-2-1) to a 3-0 victory over the Spokane Chiefs (1-3-1). . . . It was Giannuzzi’s first shutout of this season and the second of his career. He was making his 37th appearance, all with Portland. . . . Portland scored three first-period goals, the first from F Jack O’Brien at 2:40. . . . Rich Franklin, who had been with the Winterhawks for 10 years, worked his last game before heading to Palm Springs, Calif., where he will work with the Seattle Kraken’s NHL affiliate.

Some highlights from Saturday’s WHL games . . .

G Lochlan Gordon earned his first WHL victory in his first appearance to lead the Portland Winterhawks to a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds (2-1-0) in Kent, Wash. . . . Gordon, 18, was a third-round pick in the WHL’s 2018 draft. He stopped 28 shots as the Winterhawks won their first game this season. . . . Portland scored the game’s last three goals. . . .

F Bear Hughes scored twice and added an assist as the Spokane Chiefs dumped the Tri-City Americans, 5-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . Spokane was 3-for-6 on the PP. . . . The Americans are 2-1-0. . . .

F Tristen Robins drew three assists — one shorthanded, two on the PP — as his Saskatoon Blades skated to a 6-2 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . Saskatoon (2-1-0) was 3-for-4 on the PP. . . . F Kyle Crnkovic had two goals and an assist, with D Rhett Rhinehart adding a goal and two helpers. . . . Blades F Jayden Wiens was hit with a major penalty and a game misconduct after running into Brandon G Ethan Kruger at 8:33 of the second period. Kruger left the game favouring his left leg. . . .

F Connor McClennon scored three times — he’s got five — to lead the Ice to an 8-0 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders in Winnipeg. . . . The Ice (4-0-0) got two goals from F Jakin Smallwood and three assists from F Matthew Savoie. . . . Winnipeg was 4-for-7 on the PP. . . . The Raiders are 0-4-0. . . .

D Alex Cotton scored twice, the second in OT, to give the host Lethbridge Hurricanes a 2-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Cotton tied the game at 13:49 of the second period and won it at 2:28 of OT. . . . The Hurricanes improved to 3-1-0; the Rebels are 2-2-1. . . .

F Lukas Svejkovsky scored the only goal of a shootout to give the Medicine Hat Tigers a 3-2 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Tigers (2-2-0) got 35 saves through OT from G Garin Bjorklund. . . . Svejkovsky, who scored his sixth goal of the season in the first period, was the first shooter in the second round. . . . The Oil Kings are 3-1-1. . . .

F Logan Stankoven had two goals and two assists as the Kamloops Blazers dumped the visiting Prince George Cougars, 8-3. . . . F Fraser Minten added two Kamloops goals and F Dylan Sydor had three assists. He has five assists in two games after recording five in 15 games in the 2021 development season. . . . Yes, he’s Darryl’s son. . . . F Riley Heidt drew three assists for the Cougars. . . . The Blazers are 2-0-0; the Cougars slipped to 0-3-0. . . .

The Kelowna Rockets (1-1-0) broke a 3-3 tie with two quick goals in the middle of the second period and went on to beat the Royals, 6-4, in Victoria. . . . F Jake Poole broke the tie at 9:31 and D Caden Price made it 5-3 at 12:44. . . . The Royals (1-2-0) got two goals from F Brayden Schuurman — he’s got five — and a goal and two assists from D Gannon Laroque.

Parents

Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “New York has gone a full decade without any championships from its NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL teams. ‘Looking for something?’ asked a fan from Boston, which has six.”

——

Perry, again: “Mick Jagger, in Charlotte, N.C., for a Rolling Stones concert, dropped into a small bar for a drink the night before and nobody recognized who he was. ‘Why couldn’t that have been me?’ asked Jags coach Urban Meyer.”

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle hits the nail squarely on the head: “The pro-DH crowd won’t ever acknowledge this, but the game is so much more interesting when the pinch-hit-or-leave-him-in dilemma comes into play. In authentic baseball, there’s a lot more to removing a pitcher than just pointing to the bullpen. Now that it seems likely there will be a universal DH next year, I’d love to see this year’s World Series decided by a pitcher’s two-run triple.”

Toys

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

JUST NOTES: Hello, Adele, it’s me. Welcome back. Yes, you’ve been gone too long. . . . If you are an unemployed placekicker, you may get a call today. Going into Sunday night’s NFL game, kickers had missed 12 field goals and 12 extra points on the day. In a game between the Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals, the two kickers combined to miss five field goals in the last 2:12 of the fourth quarter and in OT. . . . If you are a fan of the Detroit Lions, you may be aware that they are the first team in NFL history to lose twice in the same season on field goals of at least 50 yards and no time left on the clock. Yes, it happened to them again on Sunday, this time to the Minnesota Vikings.

Canadians

QMJHL team hit with 24 positive tests; playoffs still set to open April 23 . . . Hall sparks Hurricanes . . . Armstrong roars for Cougars

The QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques, perhaps not wanting to be outdone by the qmjhlnewNHL’s Vancouver Canucks, had at least 24 people in their organization test positive. . . . The results are from the latest round of testing on April 8. . . . On April 3, the QMJHL announced that Gatineau had one positive test, so team activities were being placed on hold. . . . It would seem that one positive has transmitted into a whole lot more. . . .

Jean-Francois Plante of leDroit wrote: “Head coach Louis Robitaille has not escaped the spread of the virus. Since the first case was reported on April 3, almost the entire team has been afflicted by the variant, which is believed to be of South African origin. Other club staff were also inconvenienced.” . . . Plante wrote that some players had “minor symptoms, but others would struggle with much more serious side effects. Usually, we talk about fever, headache, vomiting, shortness of breath, chest pain and a marked drop in energy.” . . . The Olympiques are carrying 25 players, some of whom have escaped unscathed to this point. . . .

The Olympiques entire organization now is in quarantine, but there could be some players back on the ice later this week. The QMJHL maintains that it will begin its playoffs on April 23. . . .

The Olympiques aren’t the only QMJHL team with COVID-19 issues at the moment. The Quebec Remparts have three new positives, giving them a total of seven, while the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada have at least two. . . . The QMJHL has has a number of teams hit with positive tests this season. In the early days, the Armada was hit with 20 positives, while the Sherbrooke Phoenix had eight. The Drummondville Voltigeurs and Victoriaville Tigers also have experienced outbreaks.

The WHL has three teams on hold at the moment, two of them — the Kelowna Rockets and Calgary Hitmen — because of positive tests, and the Medicine Hat Tigers, who were deemed close contacts after playing the Hitmen on April 5. . . . As a result, three games originally scheduled for Monday were postponed, but there still were three played. . . .

F Connor McClennon scored twice as the Winnipeg Ice skated to a 3-1 victory Winnipegover the Regina Pats in the Regina hub. . . . The Ice (12-4-0) have won six in a row. . . . Regina now is 6-7-3. . . . McClennon, who has 10 goals, broke a 1-1 tie at 17:27 of the first period, then added his second goal at 6:09 of the second. . . . F Conor Geekie (6) gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 5:09 of the first period. . . . Regina F Logan Nijhoff (7) tied it at 16:08. . . . Ice F Peyton Krebs drew the primary assist on McClennon’s second goal, running his point streak to 15 games. Since being blanked in his first game, he has put up nine goals and 20 assists. He leads the Regina hub in assists and points (29). . . . G Carl Stankowski earned the victory with 22 saves, eight more than Regina’s Roddy Ross. . . .

F Justin Hall scored twice and added three assists to lead the host Lethbridge LethHurricanes to an 8-5 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Yes, it was the first five-point game of Hall’s career. He has eight points over his last two games. . . . Hall broke a 4-4 tie with his second goal of the game and 11th of this season at 3:43 of the third period. . . . F Jett Jones (4) gave Lethbridge a two-goal lead at 9:29, before F Ben King (5) got the Rebels to within one at 14:46. King finished with two goals and two assists. . . . D Trevor Thurston (3), at 16:34, and F Ty Nash (1), with the empty-netter, put away the victory. Thurston had two goals. . . . Hall has 21 points, including 10 assists, in 14 games. He went into this season with 16 goals in 102 career regular-season games. . . . The Hurricanes got three assists from each of F Liam Kindree and F Alex Thacker. . . . The Rebels got a goal, his fifth, and three assists from F Arshdeep Bains. . . . The Hurricanes (6-6-2) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Rebels (2-12-2) have lost nine in a row. . . . The Hurricanes swept the three-game weekend set, having won 6-3 in Red Deer on Friday and 5-2 at home on Saturday. . . . Lethbridge is (5-1-0) against Red Deer this season; they will meet three more times this weekend. . . .

F Craig Armstrong, who had two goals in his first 72 WHL regular-season games, scored four times in No. 73 as the Prince George Cougars dumped the Vancouver Giants in Kamloops. . . . Armstrong scored the game’s first three goals — at 13:00 of the first period, and 5:26 and 9:48 of the second. . . . F Tristen Nielsen (7) got Vancouver’s goal at 3:24 of the third. . . . Armstrong finished it off with an empty-netter. . . . Armstrong, a 17-year-old from Airdrie, Alta., has five goals and two assists in seven games. . . . Last season, he finished with one goal and seven assists in 62 games. . . . The Cougars got 37 saves from G Taylor Gauthier. . . . The Cougars (3-2-2) have points in four straight (2-0-2). . . . The Giants are 5-3-0.

With D Carson Lambos of the Winnipeg Ice unable to play for Canada’s U18 Canadateam because of an undisclosed injury, Hockey Canada has added D Denton Mateychuk of the Moose Jaw Warriors to the roster. . . . The team’s players now are in isolation as they prepare for the IIHF World championship in Frisco and Plano, Texas, from April 26 through May 6. . . . Mateychuk, 16, was the 11th overall selection in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft. He has two goals and seven assists in 16 games in the Regina hub this season.

Ankle

The Chicago Cubs have had two coaches test positive — bullpen coach Chris Young and first-base coach Craig Driver. . . . Because Young is positive, three relievers were deemed to be close contacts so are in isolation. Jason Adam, Dan Winkler and Brandon Workman, all right-handers, are on the COVID-19 protocol list. . . . The Cubs were the only MLB team not have even one positive test last season. . . . The Cubs opened a three-game series with a 6-3 loss to the host Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

——

My wife, Dorothy, who had a kidney transplant more than seven years ago, is preparing to take part in her eighth straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. Unfortunately, it will be a virtual walk for a second straight year, but that won’t keep her from fund-raising on behalf of the Kidney Foundation. If you would like to be part of her team, you are able to make a donation right here.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

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Or, for more information, visit right here.

Peppers

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while wondering who now has home-ice advantage in NHL bubble playoffs . . .

Scattershooting

Deer1
John Deer dropped by the Drinnan residence for a feed off our Jon Gold apple tree the other evening. You’re right. He didn’t look all that impressed. And, no, he hasn’t been back. Perhaps he was too busy watching NHL games.

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

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The Mid-American Conference cancelled fall sports, including football, on Saturday. It is the first Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference to drop football, at least for now. The MAC is hoping to be able to play football in the spring. . . . The decision was announced after school presidents held a virtual meeting on Saturday morning. . . . The move by the MAC comes days after UConn was the first FBS school to cancel its football season. . . . Sean Frazier, Northern Illinois’ athletic director, summed up the decision: ““It’s real. No one wants to have football or sports more than me. Football gave me all the opportunities I have today. But I can’t do it at the expense of people’s lives. I can’t do that and I won’t do that. Not on my watch.” . . . Chris Vannini of The Athletic wrote that Frazier “said his family has lost loved ones to the pandemic.” . . .

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The football team and the band at Oneonta, Ala., High School are in quarantine after a number of positive tests, including five football players. This is the second time the football team has been shut down by positive tests. . . . “I looked my wife in the eyes Monday night before I went to bed and I said, ‘You know I sure hope we didn’t kill anybody’s grandmother today by having a football practice,” head coach Phil Phillips told WBMA-TV. “You’re torn because the kids want to play so bad.” . . .

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The MLS is Back tournament is to end Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., and the league is preparing to resume its regular season on Wednesday. Each of the 26 teams is to play 18 games, with games being played without fans. . . . The three Canadian teams — Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver — aren’t included for now because the U.S.-Canada border remains closed to non-essential traffic. . . .

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After having a weekend series with the Chicago Cubs postponed, the St. Louis Cardinals now have played only five games. This means that they have 55 games remaining and only 49 days in which to play them. . . . Whoops! The Cardinals now have had a three-game series with the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates postponed; it was to have started Monday. . . . That now leaves St. Louis with 46 days in which to play those 55 games. . . . As Jesse Spector of Deadspin explained: “If all of the Cardinals-Cubs games wind up being part of doubleheaders, and it’s hard to see how they won’t be, that would mean 16 of St. Louis’ 60 games this season are seven-inning affairs. That’s 27 percent of the schedule consisting of these shortened games . . . and that’s assuming it doesn’t rain in the Midwest for the rest of the summer.” . . . Spector wrote that before the series with the Pirates was flushed. . . . The Cardinals, who have had 10 players and seven staff members test positive, have had 15 games postponed since last playing on July 29. . . . St. Louis is scheduled to return to play on Thursday with a doubleheader against the Tigers in Detroit.

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James Click, Houston Astros GM: “I really do think that whichever team has the fewest cases of coronavirus is going to win.”

Somewhere old friend Pat Ginnell is looking down while smiling and nodding . . .

Son

“New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes vanished from the team hotel in Atlanta before finally announcing hours later that he was opting out of the 2020 season,” Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times reports. “In other words, the old hidden-ballplayer trick.”

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Perry, again: “A Twins-Pirates game was delayed for nine minutes when an unauthorized drone flew over center field. Possible charges range from violating the outfield fly rule to the most-feared one — lack of express written consent.”

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Perry vows that he saw this on Facebook: “Hippos can run faster than humans on land, and swim faster than humans in water. Which means the bicycle is your only chance of beating a hippo in a triathlon.”

Hotel

The QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques don’t know when their next season will start but they do know that as of right know they don’t have a home arena. Health officials have told team officials that the Robert-Guerin Arena is going to be used as a COVID-19/homeless shelter for the next 12 months. Originally, the Olympiques were to be back in the rink next week to begin preparing for a new season. . . . A new arena is part of a complex that is being built; however, construction has slowed with costs having soared from a project cost of $78.5 million to more than $100 million. . . . The OHL has said it hopes to open on Dec. 1, while the WHL is aiming for Dec. 4. The QMJHL hasn’t moved its opening date since announcing that it will being its regular season on Oct. 1. . . . Norman Provencher of the Ottawa Citizen has more right here.

Here’s Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe, points out: “Alabama senate candidate and former college football coach Tommy Tuberville said $600 a week is “way too much. We’re having people just sit out not working because they’re (paid) more sitting around.” . . . After a 5-7 record coaching at Auburn in 2008, school told him to resign and paid Tuberville $5 MILLION not to work in 2009.”

JUST NOTES: Oh boy, is this NHL race for the Covid Cup proving to be confusing. Fans of the Vancouver Canucks are acting as though their favourite team won a playoff series, when they actually won a play-in series that the NHL apparently isn’t counting as playoffs. Or is it? . . . The Toronto Maple Leafs, meanwhile, lost a play-in series and their detractors — and there are a few of those, aren’t there? — point out that the Leafs didn’t make the playoffs. . . . So which is it? . . . Aaron Boone’s lack of feel for his pitching staff is going to cost him his job as the manager of the New York Yankees. He really has a knack of leaving a pitcher, starter or reliever, in for one batter too long. . . . Yankees management also is going to have to do something with C Gary Sanchez, who would strike out in t-ball. . . . A tip of the cap to Mike Morreale, the commissioner of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, and his crew for the masterful job they did of pulling off their championship tournament with all teams in St. Catharines, Ont. They called it the Summer Series and the Edmonton Stingers won the final, 90-73, over the Fraser Valley Bandits on Sunday.

Magic

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604.875.5182 or 1.855.875.5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Here’s Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, with his Thought for the Day, this one from Mark Twain: “A man who picks up a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”

Moses

Raiders’ home possibly shuttered until 2021. It’s all about managing debt . . . Former Wheat Kings GM/head coach done in Dallas

Officials from the city of Prince Albert have said that the Art Hauser Centre, the home of PrinceAlbertthe WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, may remain closed for the remainder of 2020 because of the financial situation brought on by the pandemic. . . . Alison Sandstrom of panow.com reported that all “city facilities, including pools, arenas and rinks are expected to remain closed for the rest of the calendar year, even as they are allowed to reopen under the phased provincial plan.” . . . The facilities need mass usage in order to be able to keep the doors open, and with a ban on large gatherings that isn’t going to happen. “City officials emphasized the situation could change,” Sandstrom wrote, “but said unless the province allows mass gatherings, facilities will likely have stay shut until the end of December.” . . . Mayor Greg Dionne summed it up with: “What we’re trying to do is manage debt. At this point, we’re not trying to manage facilities.” . . . Sandstrom’s complete story is right here.

With our annual Kidney Walk having been cancelled, my wife, Dorothy, is raising funds in support of a ‘virtual’ walk that is scheduled for June 7. All money raised goes to help folks who are dealing with kidney disease. . . . You are able to join Dorothy’s team and put a smile on her face by making a donation right here. . . . Thank you.

BearCrap

Hockey Canada announced Thursday that it has “cancelled all programs and national team camps through Sept. 1,” with plans to hold some of them on a virtual basis over the summer. . . . The national U-17 development camp, scheduled for July 19-25, and the national junior team summer development camp, July 27-31, are among those going virtual. . . . The complete news release is right here.

The Western Canadian Baseball League has cancelled its 2020 season. The 12-team collegiate league, which was to have opened its season on May 29, has franchises in the Alberta communities of Brooks, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Okotoks, and the Saskatchewan communities of Melville, Moose Jaw, Regina, Swift Current, Weyburn and Yorkton. . . .

If all health and safety requirements are met, soccer’s Premier League will resume play on June 17 with a doubleheader — Manchester City vs. Arsenal and Aston Villa against Sheffield United. . . .

The National Women’s Soccer League plans on taking all nine of its teams to Utah for a 25-game tournament that is to begin, without fans, in two Salt Lake City stadiums on June 27. The teams will live in two area hotels. Players will be tested before heading for Utah, then will be screened regularly during training and the tournament. . . .

The KHL, the top hockey league in Russia, has set a preliminary date of Sept. 2 for the opening of its 2020-21 season. . . .

The 2020 Boston Marathon has been cancelled for the first time in its 124-year history. It had been moved from April 20 to Sept. 14, but the plug was pulled on Thursday. . . .

The Dutch Grand Prix that had been scheduled for Zandvoort on May 3 has been cancelled. It is the fourth Formula 1 race to be cancelled, following the Australian, Monaco and French races.

Innovation

From Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts that was posted on Thursday: “For almost 35 years, Les Jackson’s been a (Dallas) Star. Hired as an assistant coach when the franchise was still in Minnesota in 1985, he stayed with the organization every season but one since. His contract will not be renewed. End of an era, for sure. He’s been a huge part of that organization’s success.” . . . Jackson, 67, is a former WHL head coach, having worked with the Great Falls Americans (1979-80) and Brandon Wheat Kings, where he was the head coach for two seasons (1980-82) and general manager for three (1982-85). With the Stars organization he was, at various times, assistant coach, scout, director of amateur scouting, director of player personnel, director of hockey operations, assistant general manager, general manager, director of player development and senior advisor.

Long Island University, which on April 30 announced its intention to ice a men’s hockey team, has named Brett Riley, 29, as the Sharks’ first head coach. LIU is located in Brookville, N.Y. . . . Riley spent last season as an assistant coach with the Colgate U Raiders. . . . He spent two seasons (2017-19) as the head coach of the Wilkes U Colonels in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Penn. The first of those seasons was spent preparing the Colonels for their first season of play in 2018-19. . . . Riley’s father, Bob, was the head coach at Army West Point for 19 years and now scouts for the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Riley’s grandfather, Jack, also coached at Army for more than 35 years and was the head coach of the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif.

Derick Brassard of the NHL’s New York Islanders is among a group of three men who have purchased 10 per cent of the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. Brassard played two seasons (2002-04) with the midget AAA Intrepid Gatineau. . . . Yan Hébert and Michel Quesnel, who partnered with Brassard, are businessmen in the Outaouais region. . . . The Olympiques now have an 11-member ownership group.

StarTrek

Scattershooting late on a Monday night with the shopping all done for another year . . .

Scattershooting

It’s a little-heard Christmas song these days, but there was a time when Honky the Christmas Goose was on the charts. It featured then-Toronto Maple Leafs G Johnny Bower, his son, and a few youngsters. . . . Dave Stubbs of nhl.com has a look back right here. . . . And if you haven’t read Dan Robson’s book on Bower — Bower: A Legendary Life — give it a read. You won’t be disappointed.

“Bed Bath & Beyond announced the departure of six members of its executive team,” notes Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe. “Is it safe to assume the company will at least give each of the six a 20 per cent store discount for life?”

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Here’s Hough, again: “So as President Trump has authorized $2 billion for ‘Space Force’, did he consider asking Michael Jordan to head it?”

After a hectic past two weeks, the plan was to spend Sunday at home in the recliner watching some football. But when the time came TSN had the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos on four channels. . . . We went out for coffee.

Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “Eat your heart out, Wonderboy. The bat Babe Ruth used to club his 500th career home run fetched $1 million on the auction block. Ruth — in his 21 MLB seasons combined — got paid $856,850.”

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Perry, again: “The Houston Rockets’ James Harden joined an exclusive NBA club by totalling 100 points in back-to-back games. Leaving him just one game shy of tying Wilt Chamberlain, who once scored 100 in one consecutive game.”

The U of Florida has named its basketball floor in honour of former men’s coach Billy Donovan. That got Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel looking for other state coaches who might be similarly saluted. He tweeted:“Best so far: (1) Jimbo Fisher Christmas Tree Recycling Center. (2) Urban Meyer Detention Center.”

The QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques appear to be something of a mess. Alain Sear, a co-owner and the general manager, left the team the other day. The next day, Martin Lacasse stepped down as the chairman of the team’s board of directors. . . . On the ice, the Olympiques are 7-23-3 and only one point out of the 18-team league’s basement. . . . According to Alexandre Pratt of the newspaper La Presse, the Olympiques had fewer than 500 fans at a recent home game at the Robert-Guertin Centre. . . . The good news is that the Olympiques will be moving into a new $80-million, 4,000-seat facility in time for the 2021-22 season.

Former WHLer Carter Rigby has taken over as head coach of the junior B Osoyoos Coyotes of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. He played one season (2010-11) with the Coyotes. In the WHL, he skated with the Prince George Cougars, Kelowna Rockets and Swift Current Broncos. . . . Rigby, 25, takes over from Grant Williams, who had been the interim head coach since Dean Maynard and the team parted company last month. Maynard had taken over as interim coach in January, and was named GM and head coach in April.

The Jacksonville Jaguars, with Gardner Minshew at quarterback, beat the Raiders, 20-16, in what likely was Oakland’s final home game before it relocates to Las Vegas. “An awesome experience,” Minshew said of the Dec. 15 game. “I saw more middle fingers today than I have my whole life.”

You’re right . . . the NFL’s Detroit Lions haven’t been good in recent years. As Justin Rogers of the Detroit News pointed out on Twitter: “Two presidents have been impeached since the Lions last won the division.”

Once upon a time, Sara Rogers’ great-grandmother, eight years of age at the time, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun. “Please tell me the truth,” she wrote, “is there a Santa Claus?” . . . The response, when it came, was one for the ages and it lives on today. . . . That story is right here. . . . Enjoy, have a Merry Christmas and please stay safe out there.